


perfect world

by rayyy



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 15:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16835065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayyy/pseuds/rayyy
Summary: After his audience with White Diamond, Steven finds himself alone and trapped on Homeworld. He is not alone for long.just a short thing to work out some of my emotions before hiatus ends. enjoy!





	perfect world

Steven’s skull throbs as if something was breaking free from inside. Painful. Homeworld blurs. Colors pixelating into each other, until all that is left is   
gray. 

He doesn’t realize he has succumbed until he awakens in a different place. The air is less stale here. Not pure Earth air, of course, you could never clone that. Just… sans the insistent cold pressure of White Diamond’s presence. 

An alien is peering at him. 

Pale curls fall down from where they encircle her face. Down, she’s looking down at him. He’s on his back. She has a nice face, sweet face, face like fresh fruit, and it’s upside down because she kneels above his head in order to look down at him. You must keep in mind, perspectives are hard for Steven right now. 

The alien has a delicate mouth, but it twists indelicately with an expression of… concern, he decides. Her skin is a rich, dusty, pomegranate pink. Her irises have four corners sharp enough to cut flesh. 

Oh boy, thinks Steven. 

“It’s you,” he says aloud. 

“Yes,” Pink Diamond agrees. “Sorry.”

“Oh, no need to apologize.” But his voice lacks the level of sincerity that he intended. Steven heaves himself to a sitting position, which leaves some distance between him and kneeling Pink. He can feel her staring at the back of his head. 

“I always hoped you’d never see this.”

She refers to the view before them. Cruel city, head of a wicked empire. The buildings alone are a hundred times older than Steven’s beloved human race. He hates himself for seeing the beauty in it. 

But the concept of stripping off your weaknesses? Taking life and crushing it, refining it, hardening it until it’s indestructible? Toughening it. Perfecting it. Yes, perfection is the pillar on which these buildings stand, have stood, for thousands upon millions of years. Billions of years. As close to eternity as Steven can imagine. It’s alluring through Pink Diamond’s window. 

The window is warped. It is, if you’ll excuse the pun, rose-tinted. 

“You hoped a lot of things,” he replies to Pink Diamond. “There’s nothing wrong with hope.”

“If hope starts a war? If it shatters innocent gems?”

Steven isn’t sure what to do now. He turns, meets Pink’s diamond eyes. A tear catches the bright rosy light as it descends down her cheek. It might be Steven’s imagination, but in that tear’s wet wake, her skin turns softer, her face rounder. More like a flower than a stone. 

“I forgive you,” says Steven. He has only just realized this, but he is certain it is true. 

“You do?”

“I can’t forgive some of your actions,” he says firmly. “But I can forgive you. And I do.”

She smiles, a ridiculous, beautiful sight to behold. Water swarms her eyes now. She is drowning in guilt and joy and repentance, and no, it’s not his imagination. Her tears transform everything they touch. For just a moment, Rose Quartz comes alive. 

“Mom,” Steven says. He wishes things were different. The sentiment isn’t worth any words, but he thinks she understands anyway. 

"My son."

When she kisses his forehead, her love is wet and sorta gross on his skin. It’s okay. Nothing is perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> So, in my mind Rose/Pink is a manifestation of Steven's inner conflict and not actually present. However, it's not like I said that in the fic so you can read it however you want. Gonna be AU-ified in two weeks anyway. 
> 
> Please leave a comment if you have one!


End file.
